Bring out your dead!
I've always been fascinated by Astral's haunted-house platformer from all the way back in 1990. It's like a 16-bit B-Movie in its own right - full of charm with a comical edge hidden amongst the horrors. No haunting would be the same without lots of frightful creatures, which it has. There is everything from witches, zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and even the odd statue that sticks out its tongue at you.
We are Count Frederick Valdemar, whose once-peaceful home has been overrun by an army of undead creatures emerging from the surrounding grounds and ancient crypts: Zombies, vampires, ghouls and others stalk the mansion's halls, leaving Valdemar with no choice but to fight his way through the chaos.
Let's check out the first scary screenshot, so brace yourself...
The artwork is beautifully creepy, and I love the attention to detail - look at those eyes!!
Enter the haunted house!
Each level has a particular objective, which is described to us during a mini-intro at the start of the stage. The task is to hunt down and collect all the skulls and lay their souls to rest. That won't be easy because this is one tricky platformer using a maze of creepy screens that often contain infuriating traps to catch you out. This is no arcade-style platformer, more of a Fire and Brimstone, so keep your composure and wear your patient head, Worzel. And by that, I mean it starts easy but soon becomes very 'challenging'!
The first level introduces us to freaky horror with puzzle-solving, along with a variety of classic baddies: zombies, headless ghosts, and a Morticia Addams lookalike. The puzzles are easy and shouldn't tax the grey matter too much: move a table to reach an item, find keys to unlock doors, and wear cute booties to creep past something scary. Things heat up on the next level with tougher monsters and puzzles.
Level passes Wolfman, Hammer, Lugosi, Nosferatu & Garlic.
Every character is different and, I must admit to liking the wolfmen - but I hate the old hunchbacked witches who will drop rocks with surprising accuracy! Hint: look for hidden rooms leading to secret objects, different keys, and more. Every level has a password, so there is no need to restart from the beginning each time, which is excellent (I wish more games had this support. Yes, I'm talking to you, Navy SEALs!).
This game is tough and no pushover, so expect lots of comical deaths. Like this one right here...
Oh no, a skeleton with a bow!!! Gets me every time...
Aesthetics
The visuals are perfectly apt for the 1950s cinematic theme with smooth scrolling, spooky artwork, and freaky characters. The horror aspect is cheesy, and I love it. Everything you see is superbly animated - like when you die and see yourself shudder before violently suffering a Scanners-like headache (no matter the cause). I'm impressed with the palette; each level looks tremendous with super attention to detail.
The audio is nothing short of incredible, with a chippy rendition of Montagues and Capulets (I'm sure I'll be humming that all day long). The sound effects are high-quality samples, with the wolf howls being my favourite. However, I'm disappointed there is nothing for my head-exploding deaths? That's weird!
Sound and vision are almost perfect in every respect! So let's look at an evil witch with her pet wolf...
I hate it when the old witch drops objects on my head!
The CryptO'pinion?
This is one of those games that will eat away your spare hours, but it requires practice and a lot of it. In fact, it's often infuriating on the later levels, just try Family Chapel if you don't believe me. Oh, and Horror Zombies From The [Atari]Crypt is the perfect title for such a cheesy platformer. See what I did there? heh
Yes, I wish it were easier on some screens, but I'll never get bored with killing wolfmen and zombies. Those piercing glares of a vampire are tremendously scary! Overall, this is a great platformer with good puzzles throughout a landscape of cruel design. As with Fire & Brimstone, it's tough but excellent.
The HDD version can be found on D-Bug
